Thursday, November 3, 2011

Tearing of Clothes & Gnashing of Teeth

You know how they say when a child phases out of one negative behavior, they usually begin a new one to take its place?

Like when Lily finally quit pinching the fire out of me, she started pulling my hair instead.  Click here to read the story of the Bird's infamous "super pinch" in case you missed it the first time around.

So what's the new behavior around the Rush house? 

Chewing on the clothes.

But this isn't your ordinary chewing on clothes like you see some kids do.  

No, no.  

The Bird has always been an over-achiever when it comes to using her skills for evil.

She is literally eating her clothes away.  Or at least the neckline of said clothing.

Don't believe me?  The proof is in the pictures.  

Take a gander at these:



Do you see it?  And I'm not referring to my scary old lady hands.

Here's a couple more photos in case you're still a doubter:



In case you're worried about my child consuming large amounts of fabric, you can rest easy.

It's actually a little more like a baseball player thing.  Imagine this is Lily:


Except instead of a big wad of chew between the teeth and gums, it's actually multiple small wads of cotton.

Have you figured out where I'm going with this yet?? 

I apologize for the graphic nature of this next photo, but this is the next step in the process:


But instead of "loogies" or tobacco dribble, Lily spits out tiny, colorful, wet wads of fabric that I then find all over her bean bag chair or in her bed or on my couch....

It's not a very ladylike habit for a couple of reasons.  One, the tearing of the clothes is right where she would be displaying some major cleavage if she had some and two, spitting just isn't something you see many "proper" ladies doing.

But I guess the Bird's never really been accused of being too "proper".

And I suppose I should take some comfort in the fact that the only place this behavior hurts is the wallet.

Sigh....


9 comments:

  1. Bless your heart and your very positive attitude! As you said, the best thing about this is that it isn't harmful to Lily. Does this new behavior replacing something old mean she has quit banging her head?

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  2. so. . . have you considered the possibility of spraying something on it? Something unpallatably yucky tasting but fit for human consumption. . . like black licorice or somesuch?

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  3. I'm with Jim. Spray your hairspray on it. :) We already know how she feels about that!

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  4. Oh goodness - she is definitely looking for some major sensory input, isn't she? http://kidcompanions.com/ is my suggestion or something like it it's the chewelry necklace - you will save on clothes and picking up the icky bits!! xoxo

    (And I love the pinching story!!)

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  5. Nope Mary, she's still hitting her head. Just no more pinching, hair pulling or biting. So there is that....

    Jim & Kristin - You're both onto something! My hairspray IS awful and I have definite proof that it deters her from biting my hair. And while I wouldn't call it fit for human consumption, it won't hurt her.... Hmmmm. I think this is worth a shot.

    Karen - I'm looking at chewy tubes/jewelry and the like but again, if it's not "tough enough", she just bites pieces of it off. The girl has jaws of steel! And I do prefer this to the pinch - it's much less painful and my boobs aren't sore! :)

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  6. It definitely sounds like a need for proprioceptive input. LM is also a biter... Not to Lily's extent, but she does love to get something in her mouth and just chaw on it.

    I like Karen's suggestion about chewies - they actually make some adult-strength chewy tubes (you can tell the strength by the color... I think adult is blue but don't quote me)? If that's still not strong enough, a lot of people on Etsy sell organic wooden teethers-- like this: http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlesaplingtoys?section_id=5687794

    From someone who has been there, i totally sympathize. Hope this helps!

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  7. And that is why we buy our clothes at WalMart. We went through that phase. Those clothes look sooooo familiar. We used baby teethers and don't gasp but dog toys. They held up to little kid teeth better than some regular toys. We tried chewlery and found he liked his clothes the best, hence Walmart clothes.

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  8. OH my! Parker chews on EVERYTHING all day long- even though he has a "chewing ball"- and I thought HE was bad, but... OH. MY. Hope you find a great solution! I cannot imagine, and I, for one, would be much more frustrated! I'm glad for the other bloggers putting info here that I'm definitely going to check into for my chewing-constantly kiddo. :) Love the comparison to the chewing tobacco. Good way to try to understand the "why" behind it :)

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  9. Karla - I'm ordering some of the "harder" chewies in hopes that she'll be satisfied. I'm actually going to cover them in fabric so maybe she gets the "feel" of clothing with a little something extra inside.

    Lizbeth - I'm off to Wal-Mart today, as a matter of fact. I've been putting the "not-so-chewed-up" shirts on her since I know they're just going to get destroyed but I've had to throw a couple out once they're torn down to the hem! So I'm needing some VERY cheap replacements. I can see where dog toys would hold up better than teethers - will look into it. (and I didn't even gasp!)

    Suzanne - Lily has chewed before but never quite to this extent. And yes, it is frustrating. I'm definitely ready for this phase to pass right along....

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